Misconceptions of character
by Randomwriting98
Summary: Life was hard before for Lizzie Bennet but now she's living the life of her dreams at university (if you excuse the phone calls of her embarrassing mother),loving her studies of English Literature and her 6 brilliant friends. If only she could avoid the attentions of Bill Collins! When Charlie Bingley and his aloof friend William Darcy turn up things are never the same again...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Camilla Bennet cried lamentably as she drove towards Cambridge. She didn't want her daughter Lizzie to go to university, even though the past few years she had been pushing her to excel in her GCSEs and A levels. The string of great grades came and her daughter had been offered a place on the English literature course at Clare's college at Cambridge University. She had been so proud of Lizzie and so pleased for her yet now she felt the pain in losing her daughter and regretted forcing her to work so hard. Mrs Bennet removed her glasses to wipe off her tears before sliding them back up her nose. However it wasn't long before she struggled to see through her glasses again. She couldn't cry silently anymore and soon was sobbing with anguish, close to laying her head onto the steering wheel.

At the sound of her mother's sobs, Lizzie looked up. She was a rather striking looking girl, her pale face contrasted with her dark brown hair and her thick black eyeliner. She wasn't pretty as such but you couldn't help but to notice her when you saw her in the street, she was like the only dark chocolate in a box of white chocolates or a raven in a flock of doves. She was different and liked to be so. Lizzie adjusted her Guns N Roses t-shirt and swept her fringe a little bit closer to the side of her face. In doing so her headphones fell out of her ears and her Mum was subjected to blast of a loud and depressing song. Seeing her mother's displeasure at the noise she graciously turned off her iPod.

"You ok Mum?" she asked in a low, cool voice. Her mother decided not to reply at once but soon her emotion was too great to be kept bottled up.

"Lizzie I'm not sure that I want you to go to university and I'm really considering turning round. All you need to do is say you want to go back home and we'll go." Lizzie sighed as if she was expecting it but also felt a rush of irritation.

"You were the person that wanted me to go to university in the first place. Sure in the end I wanted go but I wasn't that keen in the start. You made me spend most of my time studying and now you don't even want me to go."

"I'm sorry sweetheart." Her mother said, ceasing her crying, "I'm just going to miss you so much."

Lizzie felt her anger disperse; she was never angry with her mother for long because if she was annoyed with her Mum she had nobody. She had lost all her friends when her Dad had left because she took all her frustration out on them. She regretted it for a while but soon her remorse waned; it was hard to ignore the sniggers every time she walked through the corridor and the people who deliberately shoved her in the bus queue so she dropped all her folders. Of course she didn't have her father; he went gallivanting off with a soap maker and her spiteful twelve year old daughter when she was only fifteen. She had no family apart from her Uncle and Aunt Gardiner who lived in Derbyshire which is a long way from Hertfordshire where she lived.

"It's ok Mum, I understand. You're going be lonely with me gone. I'm going to miss you too." Lizzie said, smiling to herself. She replaced her headphones and placed her forehead on the cool glass of the window, watching the world flash by. Roads, shops, villages, whole towns zipped by in a matter of seconds or minutes making Lizzie wonder who lived there and what their lives were like.

Soon they were driving through the outskirts of Cambridge and Lizzie was gripped with dread. Was anybody going to like her there? Were the lecturers going to like her? Will she be kicked off the course? Her mind whirled and she felt sick. Soon they parked in a space and they made their way to Clare Hall. The beautiful building shone in the sunshine and a gasp escaped their lips. Lizzie adjusted the back pack on her shoulder and heaved her box onto her hip.

They climbed the small flight of steps and entered through the black door on their left. They stood by the office until a woman turned noticed them.

"Hello, are you here to collect your keys?" she queried with a small smile.

"Yeah, I'm Elizabeth Louisa Bennet, English literature course?"

"Ah yes, I have your set of keys here and your timetable. You'll be sharing a room with two other girls who I believe you'll get on well with. " She passed Lizzie the keys before nodding at her mother, "Good luck Lizzie."

Lizzie and her mother walked up the stairs and then arrived at the accommodation. They stood at the wooden door for a few minutes just staring neither able to move. Mrs Bennet turned to her daughter, tears glistening in her eyes.

"This is it." She said dejectedly.

"This is it." Echoed Lizzie.

She passed her mother the box she was carrying and she put the key in the door. She turned it and the door swung open.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The door swung for what seemed like an eternity before hitting the adjacent wall with a dull thud. Lizzie blushed with embarrassment as she surveyed the accommodation. There was a small hallway leading from the entrance that held a coat rack (smothered with coats and scarves) and a small bare wooden table. The entire length of the wall was lined with a million different types of shoe and boot, the most notable of which was a gorgeous pair of tan coloured Ugg boots.

There were four doors leading off from this hall, two on each side, and a small door at the end which contained the living area. This living area was large and airy with magnolia coloured walls, a large TV, a couple of bean bags and one large brown leather sofa. A young woman of about Lizzie's age lay across the sofa reading a Biology book. She soon acknowledged Lizzie and her Mum and stood up, breaking into a massive grin.

She was slightly shorter than Lizzie but not in any way slimmer. She had honey blonde hair that was pulled into a messy bun on top of her head and a flower clip pinned back some loose hair. She was very pretty with a sweet girlish nose and blue eyes of just the right size and shape. This contrasted with Lizzie's straight nose, dark hair and her hazel eyes. Her face was sprayed with freckles and even a few had accumulated on her graceful swan-like neck. The best thing about her face however was her stunning smile that she gave Lizzie and her mother.

"Hey," she said kindly, "You must be Elizabeth Bennet. I'm Jane Stewart and this," she gestured at the woman entering from the kitchen, "this is Charlotte Lucas."

"Hey Elizabeth," Charlotte Lucas said equally kindly. She wasn't a pretty girl like Jane but she wasn't unattractive either. She was just plain and that suited her just fine. She had widely spaced green eyes and a long thin nose made home in the centre of her face. This was balanced out however with a wide, full mouth. She also smiled warmly at Lizzie who immediately felt that she could be at home here after all.

"Please, call me Lizzie, I prefer it." Lizzie's mum just hung back smiling, happy for her daughter.

"Do you need any help in getting your things to your room?" both women asked in unison. Lizzie nodded with gratitude and within an hour Lizzie, her mother and her two new friends had kitted out her new room as it was back at home. Lizzie was left in there by herself for a second and she sighed happily; she could really like it there.

Soon Mrs Bennet took Lizzie by the forearms and she looked her directly in the eyes.

"I guess that it's bye for now." Lizzie nodded, not trusting herself to speak, "Please call me every day darling."

"I will Mum. I'll see you in a few months then."

The women embraced for what felt like forever and eventually they parted, with tears in both their eyes.

"Bye Lizzie."

"Bye Mum."

Her mother turned away and glanced back once before closing the door behind her. Lizzie let out a tiny sob but then wiped away her tears. She could wipe away her tears but she couldn't mask her red eyes.

Lizzie re-joined her room-mates in the living room, sitting down in one of the bean bags. Both the women asked if she was ok as they both knew what it's like to part with your family like that.

"I'm fine but thank you. What's it like living here then?"

Both women assured her that it was comfortable and that the porter was always willing to help with their every need.

Before long Lizzie had managed to learn a lot about the women and their friends.

Charlotte Lucas was the oldest of the group at 25 years old and the reason she was staying there was because she was taking an extended French master's degree as she wanted to become a GCSE French teacher. Jane however was a few months older than Lizzie and she had been there only a week longer than her. She was taking a course on genetics and she wanted to be able to engineer bacteria to produce all sorts of useful medicine and vaccines. They also had a budding acquaintance with the three girls next door; Mary, Catherine (Kitty) and Lydia. Apparently Mary was doing the same English literature course as Lizzie and not much was known about the other two except they do the same science course, were childhood friends and giggle among themselves a lot.

Despite finding out this information, a lot of the evening was spent in silence and Lizzie went to bed at 8:30. She wondered if she was ever going to fit in and she dreaded the party that Kitty and Lydia had suggested to get to know the other people on their floor. Since they had the biggest room they were obliged to hold the party, so there was no escape.

"Oh Lizzie don't be stupid." She scolded herself, "It will be fun."

No matter how many times she told herself this, she couldn't shake off the feeling of dread and she fell asleep with knots twisting in her stomach.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Of course, as it turned out, Lizzie had nothing to worry about, within a few days the young women were laughing and joking together and Lizzie felt that she had known them forever. Mary turned out to be a small mousey haired girl with opinions that felt as if they should have come from a girl double her height. Lizzie took a while to fully bond with her as she was rather reserved at first, but she soon came out of her shell.

Kitty and Lydia, however, had no shell to come out of and they were more than outspoken, despite being the youngest two of the group. They were like spiritual sisters and always seemed to know what the other was thinking. Kitty had the average brown hair colour and had an almost earnest face set in a gorgeous olive coloured skin. Lydia was her complete opposite; she had flaming red ringlets that spiralled down her back and creamy skin that was even paler than Lizzie's. However both girls spent most of their time talking amongst themselves, shrilly giggling every five seconds. Nonetheless Lizzie liked both girls very much and she felt that she had a perfect new friendship group. However she bonded the most with Charlotte and Jane. Both women contrasted and complemented her differently; Jane was eager to accept anyone and Charlotte was sensible whereas Lizzie could judge people too quickly and she could be impulsive.

A week or two after arriving, Lizzie and Mary had their first English literature lecture and they had no idea what to expect. They could only base the experience on what they had at secondary school.

They were initially surprised to see a small group of about 12 or 13 other young men and women waiting outside the designated lecture room. The fact that their lecturer, Ian Daniels, was barely ten years older than them surprised everyone.

"Come in, come in! There's no use hanging around outside, we're wasting valuable time!" He walked with a spring in his step, which was impressive considering his girth. He had a loud booming voice like your typical Daddy Bear out of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears. The fact that he had a full head of straw coloured hair, golden stubble and he was rather portly only further added to the persona. He was nothing like the tight-lipped, greying professor that they were expecting to get and they were pleasantly surprised. Everybody filed into the room and sat on the seats that were arranged in a semi-circle around Mr Daniels' desk, before logging onto their laptops or taking out their notebooks in order to take notes. He didn't sit at his desk like everybody was expecting him to do, he just leaned against it. Lizzie sat in the back row with her laptop, impatient to start. Mary just opened her large red notebook and began clicking her pen absently. She received a multitude of poisonous glares before she stopped, crimson with embarrassment. She put down her pen.

"As I'm sure you guys already know, for the first two years of this course you are about to embark on you will study literary texts dating from Chaucer to present day. You will have a whole exam dedicated to Shakespeare at the end of the first part and will do three other exams. Also you will submit three 2000 word essays and a 5000 word dissertation on a subject of your choice. We will worry about the second part later. But at the end of it hopefully we will have a full house of very good degrees. Among you there are so many potential literary scholars, book reviews and many other professions. You can get such a lot out of this course and I very much hope that you all do." He cleared his throat and took a book out of his satchel, hiding the cover, "I have decided to start you off with one of my personal favourite novels… Pride and Prejudice!"

The response to this was mixed, several people absolutely detested this novel having analysed it for their GCSE English literature way back in year 11 and never wanted to see it again. The majority of the group were indifferent to studying this book and gave no comment. Only a precious few people were truly happy about studying this novel, Lizzie being one of them.

"So has read Pride and Prejudice?" About ¾ of the room raised their hands and Mr Daniels rubbed his hands together cheerfully. "Who likes Pride and Prejudice?" As he predicted most of the hands that were up went down and he was very disappointed. He was also confused because a hand that wasn't up before was now waving in the air.

"May I ask," he teasingly queried the blonde bespectacled young woman who was the owner of that hand, "what you base your opinions on since you haven't actually read the book?"

"Well, I watched the BBC TV series with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth and loved it." She pushed the mock geeky glasses further up her nose with a challenging stare at Mr Daniels.

"Fair enough but you must realise that some of the plotlines are changed from the real story." The girl nodded and examined her shoes for the rest of the lecture. "Anyway who are the other people who enjoyed this novel?" Lizzie felt her blood run cold.

"Oh no." she moaned to herself. A similar scene had happened back in secondary school and it took her peers half a year to forget. But there was no escape; she had to say who she was. The other people told him their names; Mary and two girls called Morgan Roberts and Alice Taylor. Then it was Lizzie's turn.

"What's your name?" Mr Daniels asked her. She swallowed with embarrassment.

"Elizabeth Bennet." Half the lecture group dissolved into hysterics and Mr Daniels smiled with amusement.

"So we have our own resident Elizabeth Bennet?" Lizzie nodded flushed, "How extraordinary. I have never encountered this before. And you like Pride and Prejudice?"

"Yes, it's my and my mother's favourite book. Lizzy is my namesake."

"Well Lizzie Bennet, we now have someone to read out the Elizabeth bits." He winked at her and the group laughed again before turning back to him.

"Now," he said motioning to a stack of new copies of Pride and Prejudice, "Shall we begin to analyse chapter 1?"

After the lecture had ended Mary gushed about how much she enjoyed the lecture and how she felt that Mr Daniels is the best teacher she had ever had. Lizzie nodded and exclaimed in the right places but she was still too humiliated to be able to think about how much she enjoyed the lecture. She didn't enjoy it because she spent almost the whole duration ignoring the smirks of her peers every time Lizzy was mentioned in the story. It was just the same as when she had studied it for GCSE and she wished with all her heart that she had never chosen English literature as her career path. However she scolded herself for moaning and thought about how many people would kill for her space at Cambridge University and she told herself to be more grateful for her opportunities. Instead she dwelled on their peers, one in particular. A guy was sitting on her left in the row in front of her and he hadn't said a word all lecture, just scribbling down notes frantically in his large black Moleskine notebook. It vexed her that someone would get a place in a top university (where there were ten students for every place) and not bother to get to know anyone. She didn't know exactly why this bothered her but it just did.

However she had more than the annoying guy to bother about when she had got back to the student flat. As soon as she opened the door, Jane ambushed her, babbling on about something.

"What?" muttered Lizzie, dumping her heavy laptop bag on the floor.

"We have a date for the party, it is on Monday evening."

"Great." thought Lizzie as she had started to hope that Jane had forgotten about it.

"What, this coming Monday?"

"Yes! Isn't it exciting?" Jane squealed, hugging a startled Lizzie tightly. Charlotte emerged from her room and just smiled. "We're inviting everyone on this floor, as we said, and also a guy from the floor below. He's called Charlie Bingley and he has two sisters here, one of them is engaged to John Hurst from floor three. Apparently he's really nice and I can't wait to meet him. He is going to bring a friend with him who nobody seems to know. But no matter, it's going to be amazing!"

"Great." quipped Lizzie, raising a dark immaculate eyebrow at Charlotte, who shook her head. Jane wriggled out of her arms and skipped into the kitchen in a joyful trance. Lizzie scowled with displeasure but Charlotte shook her head again.

"If you keep shaking your head you will get whiplash." Lizzie joked and Charlotte laughed briefly before turning serious again.

"Don't rain on her parade, she's excited. I don't think she has had a party for ages."

"I know." Lizzie sighed again disappointed in herself for thinking so selfishly.

Soon afterwards Kitty and Lydia came knocking around to express their never ending excitement. They had not stayed long but Lizzie and Charlotte were already exhausted with their light hearted banter.

Suddenly Lydia crowed "Lizzie, are you going to wear jeans and one of your many band t-shirts to the party."

"Yeah Lizzie!" Kitty echoed to the approval of Lydia.

"I guess." Lizzie raked a hand through her hair awkwardly and suddenly felt inadequate.

Both girls gasped as if this was a capital offense and gushed "You can't wear jeans and a t-shirt to a party, you have to look nice!"

"Thanks." Lizzie murmured grumpily.

"Oh I know! We'll go shopping in the city to get you some decent party clothes." Lydia shouted triumphantly. Kitty again echoed Lydia in her approval of this and it was decided. Charlotte glanced sympathetically at Lizzie, who looked back at her completely perplexed.

However Jane was her saviour, returning at that point with five cans of coke and a good point.

"What you forget girls, is that none of us have much money so wouldn't be able to buy Lizzie new clothes because we need to buy food with it so we don't pass out with exhaustion. Anyhow Lizzie can borrow one of my dresses if she wants." She deposited the cokes on the table and Lizzie gave her a look that she hoped conveyed all her thanks. It seemed that Cinderella would go to the ball.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"I look hideous." grumbled Lizzie, standing in front of the mirror. Her groans were futile; the party was in 30mins so there really wasn't much she could do about it. After many failed outfit combinations Jane had forced her into a navy blue floral dress with a red belt (she was a little too small around the waist for the dress), tan brogues and a red flower to pin back her fringe. In truth Lizzie looked very pretty, the dress hem reaching her knees and the belt giving her an attractive figure but Lizzie didn't feel comfortable in anything other than her jeans and her band t-shirts.

"Nonsense, you look really nice but I'd ditch the eyeliner if I were you. It looks dodgy with the outfit. Just put on a little bit of mascara." Lizzie nodded and went to wash off her eyeliner.

"Do not straighten your hair!" Jane suddenly shouted, making Lizzie jump.

"Why?"

"Don't act like you don't have gorgeous, natural beachy waves that you needlessly attack with GHDs. Leave them; they look so nice with the outfit. Trust me on this one." Lizzie did as Jane instructed; she was a formidable foe when it came to fashion.

About ten minutes later Lizzie remerged from the bathroom, sporting minimal mascara and pale pink lip-gloss. Both Jane and Charlotte squealed when she came out and gave their compliments to Lizzie before Jane disappeared to touch up her own makeup.

"I'm confiscating your GHDs and eyeliner." Charlotte joked, "You look so much better like this." Lizzie made a mental note to hide them. Both Charlotte and Jane looked amazing too. Charlotte was wearing a slinky red halter-neck dress that reached her calves. It was studded with rhinestones on the straps and it had a flare skirt. She wore a pair of red kitten heels to go with it, also glittering with silver gems and her thick hair was pulled into a pile on top of her head. Jane was kitted in a salmon pink, silk-touch blouse and white suit trousers, which very few people can pull off. Her makeup was attractively neutral and her hair was wound into a bun at the nape of her pale swan neck. Both girls looked incredible and Lizzie felt inadequate in comparison.

Soon after Jane emerged from the kitchen Kitty, Lydia and Mary came. Kitty and Lydia were screaming as soon as they came through the door but Mary timidly walked in with her usual studious air. Kitty was wearing a pale pink dress that was fussy and covered with bits of ribbon and lace; it seemed that it was almost out of the Georgian era. Nonetheless she looked very attractive in it and she received many compliments. Lydia's dress was powder blue, which looked gorgeous with her red hair, and was very short, only reaching her mid-thigh. Mary, however, was chastely dressed in a white vest top and a short black skater skirt patterned with stars. This simpler outfit made Mary almost invisible at the party, which was what she designed it to do as she was reluctant to join in with the festivities and wanted to be left alone. Lizzie carefully divided her hair into two sections and placed one long bit over each shoulder so it framed her neck. The sections curled attractively at the bottom and Lizzie prayed in desperation that it wouldn't go all frizzy.

A matter of minutes after she did this, guests started knocking on the door. It was Jane that answered it and Charlotte that received all the gifts of alcohol and junk food before dumping them in the kitchen. Lydia and Kitty were assembled nearby and pounced on anyone and everyone as soon as they came in. Lizzie could hear their banter from where she was in the living area and she blushed, wishing that they were less overbearing. Lizzie talked calmly and politely to anyone that walked her way, who all looked slightly mollified at the easy and readily flowing chattering of the two young women.

Soon every single guest had turned up, completely crowding the apartment. Lizzie ventured over to stand with Mary, viewing the scene from the corner of the living room. Eventually Jane turned up followed by a group of three men and two women.

"Hey Lizzie. I would like you to meet Charlie Bingley, his friend William Darcy, his sisters Caroline and Louisa and Louisa's fiancé John Hurst." Jane gestured at each member of the party in turn. Lizzie decided that she liked Charlie straight away; there was something open in his face. He was quite handsome, with friendly sparkling green eyes, a laughing mouth and floppy dark blonde hair. He greeted her with a kind gentle voice and she liked the way he looked at Jane. She could see something like attraction there. Caroline Bingley wasn't nearly as good natured, even though you could tell that Jane liked her. She had short, chin length auburn curls and thin arched eyebrows. One of those eyebrows arched higher than the other when Jane introduced her and the corner of her thin lips curled with disdain. Lizzie felt a rush of anger. Louisa Hurst was similar in looks but she greeted Lizzie kinder, she gave her a wan smile and shook her hand politely. John Hurst, her fiancé was a tall rather skinny man who said nothing and made no impression on Lizzie whatsoever. Will Darcy turned out to be the guy from her English lecture and she was vexed to see that his manners hadn't changed at all. He didn't say a single word to her when he was introduced; he just nodded in her general direction. He was incredibly handsome, so it wasn't a horrible experience to have him nod at her. He had the finest head of hair Lizzie had ever seen in her life, he had thick silky black curls that were cropped relatively closely to his head but not too close that it didn't move when he nodded. He had crazy amazing triangle shaped eyebrows that were set above large chocolate brown eyes. Light stubble coated the lower part of his face and he wore a crisp white shirt, black jeans and an expensive looking black leather jacket, which he thrust his hands in the pockets of. His expression was deliciously dark and brooding and any lesser girl would have swooned but Lizzie was made of sterner stuff and he simply annoyed her, as he did during that first lecture.

"So where are you from Lizzie?" asked Charlie, giving her a 60 watt smile. Lizzie smiled back and Jane looked very very pleased with herself. Hurst, Louisa and Caroline were talking amongst themselves and Will Darcy glanced at his watch, seriously bored with small talk.

"I have roots in France but I'm actually from Basildon." Caroline heard this and let out a massive snort and began to snigger cruelly. Louisa joined in and Will flashed them an impatient look, though he too held that area of Essex in contempt. Lizzie looked appalled at the women's reaction and their brother Charlie merely looked upset at their outburst.

"Well," Charlie recomposed himself cheerfully, "It's comfortably near Billericay isn't it?" Lizzie replied that it was and the conversation carried on, if a little strained.

Soon the assembly dispersed and Jane approached Lizzie, Charlotte not far behind.

"How do you like Charlie?"

"I think he's lovely, just a shame that his friends and relations aren't so amicable." The three girls giggled and the party turned around again to stare at them. Charlie smiled as he saw Jane grab Lizzie's arm in ecstasy and he hoped that no one else noticed. His friend was staring another girl. He was fascinated with the easy way Lizzie Bennet laughed and the way a smile of mirth lit up her face. The thought was soon dismissed from his mind as he tuned into what the Bingley sisters were saying.

"She has a really chavvy laugh doesn't she?" whispered Louisa smugly.

"Yeah and she seems to have a nasal quality to her voice. God, I feel sorry for poor Jane, for being friends with that lot." Caroline whispered back. They burst into nasty peals of laughter and Will rolled his eyes. They acted nice around him when really they were nasty and cruel girls with no regard for anyone but themselves. Louisa had completely destroyed Hurst, he used to have a kind temperament but Louisa gradually hollowed all the feeling out of him until he was left as the senseless husk he was then. Caroline was too easy with her affections for him and she tried to sabotage all of his dates with other women and eventually managed to turn away all his old friends and girlfriends. She was desperate to have him but he in turn was determined to not have her.

Later on Lizzie was sitting next to Mary, sipping a glass of cider, when she overheard a conversation between Charlie and Will.

"Come on Will! Are you going to socialise and dance or are you just going to stand there like a lemon for the next few hours?" Charlie teased his friend. Will did not share his light-hearted manner and he glared at his friend before looking back at the opposite wall, examining the shadows that played across the wall.

"Stand here like a lemon." His friend finally replied in a disinterested voice. Charlie shook his head in despair and tried a different approach.

"Come on there must be some girls you're interested in. There are a lot of incredibly pretty girls here."

"You're interested in the only pretty one." Will examined the way the light shone through his empty tumbler before dumping it on a side table.

"Well yeah," Charlie blushed, ruffling his hand through his floppy hair, "Jane is gorgeous and kind too but there are other really pretty girls here too. Take her best friend Lizzie for example, she's really pretty and if I didn't have Jane then I would be interested."

"Meh. She's ok but she's not pretty. She's just mediocre with no stand out features." Lizzie gasped in shock and even Mary tuned in, more interested in the conversation. They exchanged a look and even though she tried to hide it, Mary could see the hurt in Lizzie's face.

"So ok, she's not pretty enough. But what about her personality, she's a really nice girl and she has a good sense of humour."

"Again I can argue otherwise. I find her personality bland and sappy and her humour is questionable."

Mary tried to stop her but she couldn't control the fiery feelings of hate that erupted in Lizzie. She leapt out of her seat and she whirled up to Will, seething. She hurled the glass of cider at Will, who was immediately drenched. He flushed with anger and glared at Lizzie, cider dripping from his head into his top and jacket. His eyes flashed as Lizzie stamped away.

"Sorry Charlie." She hurled over her shoulder as she walked away, as she had splattered him little bit with the cold liquid. His sisters dissolved into peals of uncontrollable laughter, Caroline actually crying.

"I think she heard you." Joked Charlie as Will stared after Lizzie; no words could convey how angry he felt at that moment. Soon he composed himself and turned back to Charlie.

"Come on, we should go."


	5. Chapter 5

_Hi its randomwriting here! Sorry I haven't updated for a while but my school life has been hectic with exams and all. I have just realised that I have forgot to do a disclaimer for this fic. _

_Me: Lizzie, do the disclaimer._

_Lizzie: (Huffs) Randomwriting does not own Pride and Prejudice or any of the characters that this story is based on, otherwise she wouldn't be living in England; she would be filthy rich and living in California._

_Darcy: (snorts) in her dreams._

_Lizzie: Oh just piss off arsy Darcy!_

_Me: Watch it ladies or I'll cut you both out of the story!_

_Darcy and Lizzie: … (glares at each other)_

Chapter 5

"You threw a glass of cider at Will?!" yelled Jane.

"Yes, I'm afraid I did." Lizzie smirked; removing a beer can from between the sofa cushions. Charlotte immediately burst into hysterics, almost crying with laughter.

"Good one Lizzie! God, I have never met such a smarmy git in my life and I have lived longer than you two." Jane glared at Charlotte and strode up to Lizzie with the bin bag.

"I can't believe that you made enemies at the first party! He's Charlie's best friend!" Lizzie raised one eyebrow teasingly at Charlotte and they started cackling like evil witches.

"Why would that affect you Jane?" Jane blushed and averted her eyes, becoming very interested in the carpet.

"You want to love him! You want to kiss him!" the girls chanted in unison and Jane swiped at them with the bin bag.

"Shut up!" she dissolved into giggles and Lizzie threw the can into the bag. The girls were silent for a few minutes, engrossed in cleaning up the carnage from the night before.

"Why do people have to wreck our own flat yet expect us not wreck theirs?" Charlotte mused with a frown, annoyed at the rubbish that was left from the party. The other two shrugged, also mystified.

"Anyway, back to Bingley." Lizzie teased, before cackling again. "Back to Bingley!" she repeated and Charlotte laughed too. They resumed their annoying chant, making Jane sigh.

"I'm beginning to think that you guys fancy him yourselves. Actually while on that subject; please say you don't fancy him." Lizzie and Charlotte sneakily exchanged a glance before attacking each other, pretending to kiss passionately.

"Oh Janey," Charlotte breathed, "my angel."

"Bingley you fox." Lizzie hissed back before both women fell away from each other in raptures. Jane was such a violent shade of crimson that she radiated heat from her face.

"You're both evil." She muttered before perking up, "Anyway, what about you and Will, Lizzie?"

Lizzie groaned with exasperation as Jane and Charlotte began acting out the proposal scene from the P&P TV series. Lizzie just couldn't see herself as Jennifer Ehle and as for Will being Colin Firth… Lizzie grabbed one of the bean bags and threw it in mock rage. It hit them and both women collapsed onto the floor.

"You know I don't rate him!" Lizzie said, picking up the bean bag from the floor. Charlotte sat up, using her hands to support her, and she touched something sticky. She shrieked and skidded backwards, hitting her head on the side table.

"Eww! The carpet's sticky over here!" Lizzie realised that that was the place where she had thrown the cider at Will and she laughed, remembering the moment vividly.

"Um, that was where I threw my cider at arsy Darcy." She smiled at the new nickname; thinking about how well it suited him. She hardly noticed when a wet dishcloth hit the side of her face.

"You clean it up then," said Jane, who had thrown the dishcloth; "It's your fault." Resignedly, Lizzie got down on all fours and began to scrub furiously.

"Well." She mused, "I can think of worse things to spend my time doing."

…

"You ok Darcy?" Charlie asked concerned; his friend was sitting in an armchair glaring at the wall.

"What do you think? My new leather jacket and white shirt are covered with cider and I can't stop thinking about HER face when she threw it at me!" Will snapped and then grinding his teeth. He didn't want to tell Charlie that he can't stop thinking about his first meeting with Lizzie. Charlie was surprised at first but when he thought about it he wasn't surprised at all.

"I can't say I'm surprised, she does have a pretty face and as I said before, if it weren't for Jane…" He trailed off when he saw his friend's expression. If looks could kill Charlie would have died.

"I am not interested in Lizzie Bennet. On the contrary, I can't think of any other person I'm less attracted to." He thought about what he said and then shuddered, "Actually on second thoughts, she's the second least person I'm attracted to." Charlie flashed him a confused look and Will sighed.

"I'd rather go out with Lizzie than Caroline." He shuddered again and Charlie looked at him; his eyes laughing and an expression of good humour on his face.

"Well, I'd say anyone is a better match to you than Carrie. She is far too taken with you for my liking."

"I wish she'd go away, she's scary." Darcy spat and Charlie laughed again at his sister's expense.

"Well, she's determined to have you. I try to tell her you're not interested but she won't listen. I say go out with someone as quickly as possible and never be single ever again, maybe even get married."

"Let's face it Charlie, I'm never going to meet someone who I can love as an equal. I'm going to have to deal with Caroline's unrequited affections forever."

"If you maintain that attitude then you will never get a girlfriend or get married. Look can you do me a favour and think more outside of the box; you'll be surprised about who would actually be a good match with you." Charlie got up and left Will to become even more haunted and intrigued by the young woman who threw cider at him.

…

"Hi sweetie!" Lizzie winced and held the phone at arms-length. Her Mum was now her usual lively self.

"Hi Mum. Are you ok?"

"Oh I'm fine, don't worry about me; I joined a weekly woman's club and made some friends. I told them all about you getting to Cambridge, being very popular and having a party within a month of you arriving! They were all so impressed; Mrs Long's son only went to Bangor! That reminds me; how was your party? Did you enjoy yourself; make new friends other than Jane and Charlotte?"

"Err…yes…yes it was fun. I made some new friends; Lydia, Mary, Kitty, Harumi-"

"That's nice dear," Mrs Bennet cut her off, "Have you found yourself a man friend yet?" Lizzie huffed with indignation; ever since she had split up with the awful Jeff Wickham it was her Mum's mission to get her a new boyfriend and eventually married off. She had been so miserable after Jeff dumped her and had lost so much weight as she had convinced herself that he had left her because she was fat (he was actually cheating on her with Macey who was on the hockey team). Part of it also probably stemmed from her own unsuccessful marriage; she wanted her daughter to marry well and not get into the same situation herself. However when her Mum tried to interfere it usually meant her going on 'blind' dates with assorted hideous boys, the sort who make you wish you actually are blind.

"Nope." She replied, so relieved that she hadn't found anyone.

"What about Will?" Charlotte quipped in the background before dissolving into giggles.

"Ooh, who's Will Lizzie?" her Mum queried, excited. Lizzie rolled her eyes; she had forgotten that the call was on loud speaker. She could imagine her mother's triumphant and smug grin.

"Only her one true love!" Jane yelled before high-fiving Charlotte.

"She's lying!" Lizzie said hastily before her Mum could reply, "I hate his guts."

"Oh, why Liz?" Mrs Bennet asked, deeply disappointed.

"He said that I was average looking, had a poor sense of humour and was generally very rude about me." Lizzie sniffed irritably, realising how pathetic she sounded, "I wish William Darcy would just go away." She winced, realising she had given away far too much information. Her Mum gasped audibly and she braced herself for her outburst.

"He's called William Darcy and you're Lizzie Bennet, like the Pride and Prejudice characters. Both Will and THE Mr Darcy said that you/Elizabeth were tolerable and average looking! You're just like your name-sakes! Oh Liz; this is fate! I'll be really surprised if you're not together by summer next year! Is he rich?"

"Yes!" Jane butted in, "His parents own a Georgian-style mansion called Pemberly in Derbyshire. He wears lots of swanky designer clothes. Lizzie threw cider over his Neil Barrett leather jacket; he was so annoyed; it's worth £1595!"

"Wow Lizzie!" her mother squealed. Lizzie cringed; her mother's squeal pained her ears. "What a fine prospect for you! A lovely rich man to marry! Wait you threw cider on him?!"

"What you forget Mum is that I hate him and wouldn't marry or even go out with him in a million years! Even if human survival depended on it, I wouldn't even touch him with a ten-foot barge pole! Remember what happened what happened when YOU married for money and not love! And yes, I did throw cider on him!" She suddenly felt horrible at her outburst; she had dug the knife in and twisted it when she made the remark about her mother's own marriage and she sincerely wished she hadn't. Both Jane and Charlotte stopped smirking and became very interested in their fingernails.

"Well," Mrs Bennet responded coldly, "That told me. Well, have a nice week. Goodbye Lizzie."

"No wait, Mum I'm sorry!" Lizzie blurted hurriedly but Mrs Bennet put the phone down mid-sentence.

"I'm sorry" she repeated into thin air and tears stung her hazel eyes.

"Well," Jane said over-brightly, "It's a shame that you don't like Will; Charlie, Will, you and I were going to go to the city centre next week. Oh well, you have to come anyway; I told Charlie you would. It would just have been an advantage if you liked Darcy."

"Great," thought Lizzie, "such fun. Oh well, let the battle commence."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

_Hey guys, its Randomwriting here. Sorry I haven't updated for ages but I had a very serious case of writer's block but now (fingers crossed) I have some decent ideas of how to play out my plot. Some demons from the past pop up here so I hope that you enjoy it :D._

…

It was a Monday afternoon and a prime example of fine British weather. The sky was dark and raindrops the size of two pence coins were clouting all the shoppers in Cambridge town centre. Many eyes were drawn towards H&M, where the sound of a massive fracas carried from the building and could be heard even through the torrential rain. Inside the store, two girls were fighting over a cut price jumper while everyone else watched.

"I saw it first!" Lydia screamed pulling on one arm of the jumper, dragging it towards her.

"But the colour will look better on me!" Kitty screeched back, struggling to wrench the jumper out Lydia's hands. Their two companions stood nearby, sincerely hoping that nobody would realise that they knew them. Lizzie wished that she and Mary hadn't agreed to go clothes shopping with them; Charlotte had warned them about what it was like.

"Well good luck," she had said, flicking through Heat magazine, "Imagine shopping with a cross between a kangaroo, a screeching owl and a great white shark and you are part way to understanding what it is like." Lizzie had scoffed at this but now she understood where Charlotte came from.

"Shall we do something?" she muttered, elbowing Mary.

"Nah!" Mary dismissed her with a wave of her hand, "I'm enjoying myself far too much."

"We can't just let them fight like this; they are attracting the attention of the whole store."

The two women resolved to separate Kitty and Lydia, who had started hitting each other, but a security guard got there before them.

"Either you stop fighting or you leave the premises right now!" The girls quietened down, glaring at each other, and the security guard gave them back the jumper. He turned around and caught Lizzie's eyes. She gasped, completely horrified. His face was unmistakable even though he certainly looked a few years older; Jeff Wickham. They stared each other down and Lizzie felt a bubble of hurt rise up her throat. She choked with emotion.

"Lizzie?" breathed Jeff. Lizzie let out a guttural sob and she turned away but he caught her on the arm. "Are you ok? How have you been?"

"How do you think I've been? You broke my heart!" Lizzie retorted. Luckily she felt a tap on her shoulder; she looked round to see Charlie Bingley beaming at her. She grinned back; very glad to see him. However her smile faltered when she noticed a surly looking Caroline folding up her umbrella. It completely dropped off her face when a very sodden Arsy Darcy appeared by Charlie's shoulder. His black curls were dripping wet and his face twisted when he saw her.

"Hey Charlie, how are you?" She said, giving him a friendly hug.

"I'm ok I guess but this miserable weather just gets you down doesn't it. Oh, hello Mary. I didn't see you there." He turned back to Lizzie after greeting Mary. "Are you still up for Wednesday?"

"Yeah, we can't wait for it. Jane is dying to see you again." Charlie blushed at this and Caroline looked as if she had swallowed a lemon.

"So, how are you Will? I'm very sorry for spilling cider on your jacket. I hope that you will forgive me." Lizzie tried to look sincere but nobody could mistake the sarcasm in her voice. Caroline shot a quick glance at Will's face and was disappointed when he merely looked amused.

"You find yourself forgiven Lizzie and since the stain has come out, the incident is also forgotten."

"Well, I think you find some incidents are best forgiven but not forgotten." She replied with a wan smile. "Stick that up your pipe and smoke it!" she silently added.

Both Caroline and Charlie took sneaky looks at Will's face. Caroline didn't like the look that he was giving Lizzie; he was trying to look annoyed but his emotions were failing as one of the corners of his mouth was turned up in an amused grin. She was jealous as she was sure that she could see admiration in his expression. Charlie could also sense chemistry between the pair and looking at them he could see them as an attractive couple.

However, the moment passed and Will's eyes flickered from Lizzie's to Jeff's face. His reaction was extraordinary; he froze and went white before seeming to grow ten inches taller. His face grew strong and Lizzie moved her head to see Jeff's red, sweaty face and his clenched fists.

"Jeff." Will curtly nodded.

"William." Jeff spat back and Lizzie was intrigued as to how Will Darcy knew her scum bag ex-boyfriend.

"I guess I'll see you another time Liz." Jeff placed his hand on her upper arm and she shook it off, completely disgusted. With one last glare at Will, Jeff stalked off.

Charlie sensed the awkwardness that now descended and he hurriedly arranged what time they would meet and where before departing with his group. When he thought she wasn't looking, Will turned around and got one last glimpse of Lizzie's face before they disappeared behind a clothes rack.

Lizzie stood there silently for a minute, completely exhausted with the shock of seeing Jeff again. Suddenly she was approached by someone.

"So!" Kitty's voice startled her, "Lydia gave the jumper up; she found a dress instead. So, shall I buy it?" Lizzie just nodded and watched her friend skip off.

_Hi it's Randomwriting again. Can you guys tell me if any of my characters are turning in Mary-Sues? Also I'm sorry if I have confused you with the George/Jeff name change. I just got a random thought that I should change his name so…yeah. I hope this chapter hasn't disappointed you. If it has then don't give up on the story; it will get better. _ _ Bye for now. _


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